De Surprise Stopover Nominatie winnaars

Deserves to see the beauty of Iceland with his own eyes

Nominator: Femke de Jong

I am nominating my boyfriend, Ebel Zandbergen. He has always supported me, even when I started working in the US as an oceanographer while he had to stay in the Netherlands. He has seen many photo's of Iceland, taken by me as I made one day visits to Reykjavik to (dis)embark research vessels, and always wondered about its beauty. But he was never able to join me as these were work visits. When he next crosses the North Atlantic to visit his girlfriend in the US the deserves to see the beauty of Iceland with his own eyes.

Dreaming about whales

Nominator: Ruchet Cyril

I nominate my daugthter . She is 6 and dreams about whales all the time. I would like to show her and this contest could be a great opportunity. Thank you for all. Cyril

Nonni&Manni

Nominator: Lucia Kroher

I would like to nominate my brother. He wants to travel to the USA and make a stop in Iceland to explore Iceland with me by car and by horse. Since I read Nonni & Manni as a child, it has been my dream to explore Iceland while horseback riding.

Ignoring the beautiful half-naked woman

Nominator: unknown

I'm nominating my boyfriend - he fell in love with Iceland when he was supposed to be taking photographs for a fashion story. The model and the whole team were ready and waiting, but my boyfriend had gone missing. They found him wandering over the glaciers, taking photos of the landscape and completely ignoring the beautiful half-naked woman he was meant to be taking photographs of. Right now, he's back in England, looking after his two kids, who are 5 and 3 and both can't wait until they're old enough to go to Iceland with their Dad. He works so hard for them and deserves a SURPRISE STOPOVER in Iceland (he looks good on camera too... he's got the Icelandic beard...).

Dreaming to compete in the Boston Regatta

Nominator: Kia Marie Heiberg (daughter)

I would like to nominate my father who is 80 on 25. November 2014. He is a super tough man who rudders (both on-site indoor and outdoor), he won the European Championship in his alderklasse last year. He went on the Caminoen route in 2013 and here in the spring, he was hospitalized with a 3 times bypass! But he is now in great shape and rehabilitating, and has already started again! His dream is to be able to compete in the Boston Regatta. And with a stop in Iceland and hike in the mountains/view the beautiful scenery, it would be a giant gift on top! But he is retired, so can’t afford it, so this Surprise stopover would be a dream for him!

Got married in Thingvellir

Nominator: Penelope Trappes

I am nominating my husband Stephen Hindman because I would love to surprise him with a "gift" to return to Iceland for our wedding anniversary. We were married in Thingvellir before moving from USA to UK :)

Stopover verhalen

Breathing in pure oxygen

Molly Belvo

We stopped over in Iceland on our way to and from France in June-July 2013. We took full advantage of the Stopover offer and spent 6 lovely days travelling through southwest Iceland, including Reykjavík, Stykkishólmur, Snæfellsnes, Selfoss, and Hvolsvöllur. The people were really friendly and we loved how quaint, quiet, and beautiful the country was. The biggest surprise? The fresh and clean air – it felt like breathing pure oxygen!

We had such a good time that my husband can't stop talking about how he wants to move there! And yes, we did have a life-changing experience on our trip. I got pregnant while we were visiting Iceland and in March we welcomed a baby girl, our first. Hopefully we will win this giveaway so that we can take her to Iceland, too. :-)

During our seven-day Stopover, we got married in the country of our dreams

Junior Chuang and Alison Ytsma

We were first introduced to Icelandair when we visited our friends from Vancouver five years ago. At the time, we flew through Seattle and decided 'Hey, why not?' and took advantage of having free stopovers. We were absolutely blown away by the people, the culture, and the scenery. When we got engaged last year we decided that we would get married in Iceland. It was perfect since it was a good centre point for our friends in N-America and Europe to meet up. Nearly thirty of our friends and family flew on the historical inaugural flight from Vancouver which made the trip that much more memorable and special for them.

On the days leading up to the wedding, we threw parties, had pub crawls, and day trips out of Reykjavík for them to explore the famous Golden Circle and the south coast. The ceremony went smoothly at the little church by the coast (Strandakirkja). At the end of our Stopover, we parted ways with our friends as we headed for our honeymoon. Many of them even said they would come back again on their own to explore more of the beautiful scenery!

It only took us 20 years

Ksenija

Our journey to Iceland started more than 20 years ago when Andrew was in 6th grade and got a new task from his teacher. Iceland. Fast forward 20 years. Iceland! Our vacation destination was chosen. And we decided to get married.

We used 2 Stopovers with Icelandair. First we got married. On our wedding day a hurricane and flood warnings were issued for the area. We had a beautiful ceremony on the island Hlésey. It was pouring like crazy and the wind was blowing us off from our feet. It couldn’t have been more magical, more different and at the same time so – us!

On the second Stopover we stayed for 7 days and turned it into our honeymoon. We decided to follow the sun. If we felt like it we slept in a car for a couple of hours in the middle of the day; we found ourselves climbing up volcano at 4 o’clock in the morning and relaxing in the natural hot spring in the middle of lava field enjoying the two-hour-sunset at midnight. Spectacular places, exciting stories, breathtaking sights, exquisite food, welcoming. Thank you for being our wings on a flight to our dreams!

A perfect moment

Bo Saxbe

It was a beautiful Easter morning when we arrived in Keflavík and rented a car for the day. An hour or two later we arrived at Gullfoss waterfall in Iceland. No one else was there, and the sun had only just come up. It was a perfect moment. We had spent a wonderful Christmas week in Reykjavík the year before, and decided to take a single day Stopover in Iceland to revisit our favorite places.

My girlfriend and I were flying Icelandair to Paris. I had planned to propose to her in France, but I when we reached Gullfoss, all my plans went out the window. It was breathtakingly beautiful, we were all alone, and I knew it was time. I set up my camera and had just enough time to get down on one knee and ask her to marry me when the flash went off. She thought I had stumbled on a rock until she saw the ring. With all the beauty of Iceland around her, of course she said yes. We had a whirlwind day in Reykjavík, and then flew on to Paris, engaged to be married. I can't imagine a better Stopover.

A 74-year-interval

Stewart Winn

In 1939 my parents (and I, age 3) decided that it was time to leave England and go home to America. The next day war was declared, and the captain of our ship sailed as far north as he could to avoid any German warships. The course took us around the northern side of Iceland. For the rest of my youth my mother always emphasized that we had sailed to the extremity of the northern seas, farther even than remote Iceland, and survived the voyage, so for the next half-century or so, I always thought of Iceland as being somewhere beyond the pale.

Last year (2013), I discovered that the most convenient and economical way to get to Amsterdam was via Icelandair. Then we discovered that we could stop over and explore the country. So we did, and 74 years after first circumnavigating the island we spent three days in Reykjavík and took wonderful tours around the city and the countryside. In 2014, we are flying to Copenhagen via Iceland and will stop for two more days in Iceland! Never would I have thought we'd visit the country twice in only two years, and we're really looking forward to it.